Notable Historic Societies - GED Social Studies

The Nile River in East Africa is the longest river in the world; it runs through what is otherwise a relatively dry and barren environment. As such, its importance to early agricultural civilizations cannot be overstated. The civilization of Ancient Egypt sprang up along the banks of the Nile River.

The Code of Hammurabi is one of the earliest known examples of written law in the ancient world. It was written, supposedly, by the Babylonian King, Hammurabi.

The religion of Christianity emerged relatively quickly following the death of Christ. It spread around the Roman Empire at rapid pace, and within a few hundred years was adopted, by the Emperor Constantine, as the official religion of the Roman Empire.

All of these were empires of South America except for the Sumerian Empire. The Mayans lived in modern-day Mexico and Guatemala from about 300 C.E. to 900 C.E. The Mayans are most well known for their extraordinary astronomical observations and understanding. The Incan Empire included most of modern Peru, Ecuador, and Bolivia as its territory, lasting for a few hundred years, between roughly 1300 and 1550 C.E. The Aztec Empire existed in central Mexico around the same time as the Incas. They were completely destroyed by the arrival of the Spanish conquistadors and Hernan Cortes. The Olmec Empire existed in a much earlier time period than the rest of the South American civilizations previously discussed—from about 1500 B.C.E. to about 400 B.C.E—and ruled in a similar area of Central America to the Mayans. The Sumerian Empire on the other hand is one of the earliest known civilizations from the ancient Mesopotamia region of the world (what is now Iraq and Syria). The Sumerian Empire existed several thousand years ago and is considered important to historians because the earliest known writing that has been found is in the language of the Sumerian Empire.

The Holy Roman Empire was nominally created from the ruins of the Western Roman Empire during the so-called Dark Ages of European history. Charlemagne, a Frankish King in the early ninth century, was crowned Holy Roman Emperor in 800 C.E.

The Protestant Reformation began in Europe in the early sixteenth century. Specifically it can be traced to 1517, when the German monk nailed his 95 Theses to the door of a Church in Germany. Lutheranism was the first major religion of the Protestant Reformation, followed shortly by Calvinism (John Calvin), Zwinglism (Ulrich Zwingli), and Anglicanism (Henry VIII).

Confucianism is a philosophy that arose in China 2500 years ago. It is also sometimes called a religion. Confucianism’s primary tenets are a deep respect for ancestors and an obedience to legal tradition and order.

The House of Plantagenet is an important ruling family in English history. They ruled over England from the mid-twelfth century until about the mid-fifteenth century. Notable Plantagenet monarchs include King Henry II, Richard the Lionheart, and King John (the man who was King when the Magna Carta was signed). They were also in power when the Hundred Years’ War was waged against France.

Throughout history, particularly in the twentieth century, there have been numerous attempts by governments to deliberately plan and carry out the complete extermination of ethnic, religious, or cultural groups. Most famous of these is the Holocaust, when Nazi Germany attempted to wipe out the Jewish population of Europe (as well as Gypsies, homosexuals, the mentally disabled, and communists). Other famous genocides include the Armenian Genocide, the Rwandan Genocide, and the Cambodian Genocide.

Hernan Cortes and the Spanish conquistadors are responsible for overthrowing the Aztec Empire in the early part of the sixteenth century. If you did not know this you might have made a reasonable guess because the name Hernan Cortes sounds Spanish. The Spanish were the first to arrive in the New World en masse and overthrew the great Aztec and Incan Empires with their advanced technology and merciless military tactics. The Mayan Empire died out several hundred years before the arrival of the Spanish. The Portuguese Empire persisted for a long time during the European Age of Colonialism. The Mughal Empire existed in India before the arrival of the British. The Mongolian Empire conquered massive swathes of Europe and Asia before eventually succumbing to the difficulties of administering such a vast empire.

The major civilizations of early settled human history arose in the land of Mesopotamia (literally "the land between two rivers"). This land between the Euphrates and Tigris rivers is often called The Fertile Crescent because it was an extremely abundant source of food and agricultural land for the early civilizations, like the Babylonians and Sumerians.